Accelerator



J. H. M. .MICHON.

.nccnsmop. APPU CATION FILED NOV. I9. 1520,

Patented Jan. 31, 1922.

2 SHILETS-SHEET L a] JHMJWvLo/aow 36 m am;

J. H. M. MICHON.

ACCELERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.19, I920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH H. M. MICRON, OF TOLEDO, OHIO.

ACCELERATOR.

1,404,785. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jan. 31 1922 Application filed November 19, 1920. Serial No. 425,185.

To all whom it may concern: Figure (3 is a sectional view showing the 65 Be it known that I, Josnrn H. M. MIoHoN, pawl plate of the slide canted, and

a subject of the King of Great Britain, re- Figure 7 is a detail perspective showing siding at Toledo, in the county of Lucas and the elements of the slide disassembled.

State of Ohio, U. S. A., have invented cer- In order that the construction, mounting tain new and useful Improvements in Aceeland operation of my improved accelerator erators, of which the following is a specitimay be accurately understood, I have, in the cation drawings. shown the device in connection This invention i'elatesto an improved foot with a motor vehicle of Ford design and L0 accelerator for motor vehicles and has as accordingly shall so describe the device.

one of its principal Objects to provide :1 However, I do not wish to be limited in this simple and etlicicnt device of this character regard since, as shall appear as the descripwhich may he readily applied and which tion proceeds, the accelerator is well adapted will dependably operate for controlling a. for use upon motor vehicles of various other 15 throttle valve. designs. Referring to Figure l of the draw- A further object of the invention is to ings, the engine of the vehicle is indicated at provide a device embodying means whereby l0 and the engine carhureter at 11, this carthe throttle valve may, in the usual manner, hiireter being provided with the usual be manually operated independently of the throttle valve which is operated by a throttle 20 foot lever employed and wherein the foot valve lever 12. Upon the carliureter is a lever will. when the valve is thus manually stop 13 for limiting the valve in its moveoperated, remain stationary. ment to both open and closed positions. Another object of the invention is to pro- The usual throttle control rod of the vehicle vide an accelerator employing a spring for is indicated at 14 and, at its lower end por- 25 resisting opening movement of the valve unthan this rod carries an arm 15 to which der the influence of the foot lever and which is connected, under present practice, a rod will serve to swing the valve to closed posiextending to the valve lever 12 so that as the tion upon release of the lever but wherein rod 14 is rotated the valve will be opened means will be provided for relieving the, and closed. The transmission case of .the valve when closed oi the major portion of vehicle is indicated at 16 and closing this the tension ot' said spring to thus avoid incase is a door 17 held in position by a plujury t th valve, rality of screws 18.

And the invention has as a still further ll carrying the invention into effect I object to provide an accelerator wherein employ a hracket 19 which includes a base 35 possibility of sticking of the parts will he plate widened toward one end thereof and reduced to a minimum so that the valve may provided near its smaller end with an up unfailingly he moved to closed position. standing post 20. Formed in the end por- Other and incidental objects will appear tions of the plate are openings adapted to hereinafter. register with the openings at the upper 40 In the drawings: end of the door 17 of the transmission case Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation 16 of the vehicle so that the pair of the showing my improved device connected with screws 18 normally holding this door at a motor vehicle of Ford design, parts being its upper end may he engaged through the broken away and illustrated in section. base plate for securing the bracket in posi- 45 Figure 2 is a plan view of the device. tion. As shown in Figure 1, the post 20 of Figure 3 is a detail perspective of the foot the bracket will thus provide a support for lever and bracket therefor. one of the front floor boards of the vehicle.

Figure 4 is a 'liagnieiitary sectional view Upstanding from the forward edge of the showing the manner in which the head for base plate near its wider end are spaced 50 the cable wire em )loved is connected thereto. la s 21 and 22 and )llOlZPd ii on the 111" l b l h Fi ure .7 is a fragmentary sectional view 21 is a laterally directed arm 23 secured at particularlyshowing the position of the its inner end by aholt 24 and adjustably clutch side employed when the throttle valve foldable to lie along the forward edge of of the vehicle is closed. the base plate so that the bracket may be opposite end portion of the lever is bent 06 formed on to provlde a depending arm 30 having a laterally directed lower end portion 31.confronting the rear end of the socket 25.

Supplanting the usual rod which extends between the throttle control rod 14 of the vehicle and the throttle valve lever 12, is an actuating rod 32. At one end this rod is formed with a terminal 33 which is freely engaged through the arm 15 of the throttle control rod and secured by a suit able cotter pin. Throughout the greater portion of its length the rod is straight and secured thereon is a post 34 in which is fixed, as particularly shown in Figure 5. an internally threaded sleeve 35. Fitted through said sleeve is the forward end portion of a flexible cable or sleeve 36. This cable is preferably formed of a helically wound length of material so that the exterior of the cable thus presents, in effect, a coarse thread coacting with the thread of the sleeve so that the cable may accordingly be rotatably ad'usted through the sleeve for var in the e ective length of the cable. Sli ab e freely through the cable is a flexible element or wire 37 and mounted upon said wire at its rear end portion is a head 38. As particularly shown in Figure 4, this head is rovided with an eye which, as illustrate( in Figure 3, receives the laterally directed end portion 31 of the arm 30 of the foot lever therethrough while the head is formed directly upon the wire, the wire being looped within the eye so that the head will thus be effectually secured in position. The socket 25 of the arm 23 of the bracket isformed to freely receive the rear end of the cable 36. tonsequently, by spreading the head 38 away from the rear end of the cable, the rear end portion of the cable may be engaged in said socket to abut the shoulder 26 thereof, while the wire 37 may be coincidently passed through the slot 27 of said socket so that the head will be disposed to abut the rear end of the socket when the socket will court with the wire for holding the head against displacement from the end portion 31 of the arm 30. Mounted upon the outer end portion of the rod 32 in advance of the post 34 is a clutch slide. As shown in detail in Figures (3 and 7 of the drawings, this slide includes a tubular body 39 freely receiving the 'rod therethrough and the body at one: side thereof is a lateral lug 40 in which is fixed a depending post 41. This post, as shown in *igure 5, is freely engaged through the eye of the throttle valve lever 12, being held against displacement by a suitable cotter pin. Formed on the body at its rear end is a rearwardlv and downwardly inclined arm 42 which extends below the rod and formed on the lower end of said arm is an upstanding vertically disposed stop plate 43 lying at an acute angle to the flat upper face of the'arm. At its upper end this plate is provided with a semi-circular notch 44 and extending transversely across the bight of the arm is an upstanding medial integral bracing rib 45 operating to rigidly sustain the plate with respect to the arm. (oacting with the stop plate 43 is a pawl plate 46 provided at its lower end with smced lugs 47 which freely straddle the lll) 45 so that said lugs thus rest within the bight of the arm 42 sustaining the plate to rock therewith. Formed through the upper end portion of the plate is an opening 48 freely receiving the rod 32 therethrough and above said opening, the plate is provided with spaced apertures 49 through which is engaged the forward end portion of the wire 37, the rib 45 coacting with the lugs 47 for holding the plate against rotation upon the rod. Surrounding the rod 32 to bear between the post 34 and the pawl plate is a string 50 freely received through the notch 44 of the plate 43 and urging the slide toward the forward end of the rod.

Attention is now directed to the fact that the spring 50 will normally maintain the pawl plate 46 of the clutch slide in vertical position lying at substantially right angles to the rod 32 while in the closed position of the throttle valve, as shown in Figure 2, the head 38 will abut the socket 25 of the bracket arm 23 for limiting the pawl plate in its forward movement upon the rod under the influence of said s ring. Consequently, the major portion of t e force of the spring will be communicated to the head 38 and be sustained by the bracket arm 23. However, when the pawl plate thus reaches the end of its throw and stopped by the head 38, the action of the spring tending to hold the pawl plate in vertical position will cause the lugs 47 of the plate to coact with the arm 40 of the body of the slide for yield-ablv holding the. slide body advanced, pressing the throttle valve closed. Thus, a relatively strong spring may be employed for insuring a positive and quick closing of the throttle valve while. at the same time, undue pressure against the valve when closed will be ob iated to, in turn, avoid injury to the valve, only the influence of the spring operating to hold the pawl plate in vertical position acting against the valve when closed. In this connection it is to be observed that by adjusting the sleeve 36 through the post 34 to vary the effective length of the sleeve, as previously men tioneil. the curvature of the rear end portion of the wire 37, as defined by said sleeve, may, in turn, be varied for varying the normal position of the throttle valve. For instance, adjustment of the sleeve forwardly through the post 34 will serve to decrease the bend in the forward end portion of the sleeve which will, in.efi'ect, operate to lengthen the wire 37 so thatthe throttle valve will, when the foot pedal is released, be moved bythe spring 50 to full closed position. ()n the other hand, by adjusting the sleeve rearwardly through the post to thus retract the sleeve, the bend in the inner end portion of the sleeve will be increased which will, in effect, serve to shorten the effective length of the wire 37. Accordingly, the throw of the clutch slide will be shortened so that the throttle valve will be permitted to move only to partially closed position under the inflence of the spring. Thus, adjustment of the sleeve upon the post provides a convenient means whereby the normal position of the valve may be readily varied at any time and, as will be appreciated, this is a feature of marked advantage and convenience since. as is well known, it is in practice often desired to change the normal position of the throttle valve of an engine carburetor for varying the speed of the engine when the throttle valve is closed as far as possible. After the pawl plate has reached the end of its throw forwardly, ranting of said plate under the influence of the spring tending to shift the lower end of the plate forwardly will. as will be perceived, be limited by the stop plate 43, the action of the pawl plate tending to advance the. body of the slide forwardly serving to move the stop plate into engagement with the pawl plate seating flat against the rear side thereof. Consequently. the pawl plate will be locked against forward canting so that when the pedal 29 of the foot. lever is rocked forwardly or depressed, the wire 37 will operate upon the pawl plate f )l tiltl\VlllI, the clutch slid rcarwardly upon the rod 32, compressing the spring :30 and opening the throttle valve. Upon the release of said levcr. the spring will. of course. immediately project the slide for returning the foot lever and again closing the valve. The throttle valvc may accordingly be controlled at will by the loot lever independently of the hand throttle lever. \Vhcn the hand throttle lover of the vehicle is moved in a direction for opening the valve. the rod 32 will be shifted rcarwardly and. as will he seen, the clutch slide and the spring 5!) will move as a unit with the rod. the forward end portion of the cable 36 as well as the forward portion of the wire 37 within the cable flexing as the rod is moved. Consequently, the throttle valve will be opened while, due to the flexing of the cable and wire, the foot lever will remain stationary, held retracted by said spring. Upon movement of the hand throttle lever to close the valve, the rod 32 will be shifted forwardly and, of course, the'spring 50 will resist rearward movement of the pawl plate 46 upon the rod. However, as will be at once appreciated, the throttle valve will exert a resistance against the stud ll of the slide so that as the rod is advanced, the slide body will, as shown in Figure 6, be shifted rearwardly upon the rod for canting the pawl plate rearwardly. Said plate will thus be caused to grip the rod for positively locking the the slide fixed thereon so that as the forward movement of the rod is cmitinued, the throttle valve will be positivelyclosed. The cable 36 and wire 37 will, of course, flex when the throttle valve is thus closed so that, like when the throttle valve is opened by the hand lever, the foot lever will remain stationary. Consequently. the throttle valve may be either opened or closed by the hand lever without any corresponding movement of the foot lever. By setting the hand lever, the elosing movement of the throttle valve may be controlled for thus limiting the closing of the valve when operated by the foot lever. Formed through the outer end portion of the rod 32 is an opening 51. Should the wire 37 become broken in the pri'ictical use of the device, a cotter pin or other suitable stop element may be engaged through this opening for limiting the clutch slide in its forward movement upon the rod under the influence of the spring 51). Conse quently, evcn though the foot control ol the throttle valve becomes disabled, Said valve may, nevertheless. still be operated by the hand control, the spring 50, of course, having suflicient tension to maintain the clutch slide at the limit o its forward throw upon the rod. 1 accordingly provide a highly eliicient accelerator and, will now be readily underst od. a. device which may be applied simply by displacing the usual cross rod between the throttle control rod 14 and the throttle valve lever ii! and substituting the rod 32 therefor. the terminal 33 being. as previously explained, engaged with the arm 15 of the control rod while the post ll of the clutch slide is cugaged with the lever 12. Then, after the footlever bracket has been mounted in position. the outer end of the cable 36 may be engaged in the socket 25 of the bracket arm 23 when, by engaging the head 39 with the end portion 3] of the arm Ill) of the foot lever. the device will be ready for operation. it being observed that no special tools will be required in order to thus apply the device.

. only the tension of Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A device of the character described including an actuating rod, and foot oper ated means associated with the rod and engageable with a throttle valve, said means being movable independently of the rod to open the valve and being automatically operable to resist independent movement when the rod is shifted for closing the valve.

2. A device of the character described including an actuating rod, and foot operated means slidable upon the rod and engageable with a throttle valve, said means being movable independently of the rod to actuate the valve and operable to rip the rod whereby the rod may be shifted for actuating the valve.

3. A device of the character described including an actuating rod, and foot operated means associated with the rod enga cable with a throttle valve and movable 1n ependently of said rod for actuating the valve, said means being limited against independent movement in one direction upon the rod and operable to grip the rod when said rod is moved in said direction whereby the rod may be shifted for actuating the valve.

4. A device of the character described including an actuating rod, means engageable with a throttle valve slidable upon the rod and including an element loose thereon, said means being movable independently of the rod for actuating the valve, yieldable means urging the first means to close the valve and acting against said element, and means connected to said element limitin the first means in its movement near the 0 used position of the valve whereby only the tension of the yieldable means operating to rock said element will hold the valve closed.

5. A device of the character described including an operating rod, means slidable thereon engageable with a throttle valve and movable independently of the rod for actuating the valve, said means including a pawl plate loose upon the rod, yieldable means acting against said pawl plate for shifting the first means to a position closing the valve, and means limiting the first means in its movement near the closed position of the valve and connected to said plate whereby said yieldable means operating to rock the plate will act to hold the valve closed.

6. A device of the character described including an operating rod, a clutch slide thereon engageable with a throttle valve and movable independently of the rod for actuating the valve, said slide bein operable to grip the rod when said rod is s iited in one direction, and means limiting the slide in its movement upon the rod in the opposite direction whereby the rod may be shifted for aotua-tin the valve.

7. A evice of the character described including an operating nod, a clutch slide thereon including a slide body, a pawl plate mounted to rock thereon. the body being engagcable with a throttle valve and the pawl plate being loose on the rod, yieldable means acting against the pawl plate normally holding the valve closed, the slide being movable independently of the rod against the tension of said means for opening the valve, and means connected to said pawl plate limiting the slide in its movement near the closed position of the valve whereby only the tension of the spring operating to rock the pawl plate will act to hold the valve closed, the body being shiftable for canting the pawl plate to grip the rod whereby the rod may be shifted for closing the valve.

8. A device of the character described including an actuating rod, :1 flexible sleeve connected thereto, means associated with the rod and engageable with a throttle valve, flexible means extending through said sleeve and connected to the first means for shifting the first means independently of the rod and actuating the valve, and means associated with the second means limiting the first means in its independent movement in one direction, the first means being operable to coact with the rod for movement therewith when shifted in the opposite direction where by the rod may be moved for actuating the valve.

9. A device of the character described including an actuating rod, a slide body shiftablc thereon and having an arm provided with stop means, means carried by the body for engagement with a throttle valve, a pawl plate mounted to rock upon the arm and loosely receiving the nod thcrethrough, the pawl plate being movable to a position locking between the. arm and said sto means, means connected to the pawl plate ior shifting the slide body in one direction, and yieldable means acting against the pawl plate for shifting the slide body in the opposite direc tion, the body being movable independently of the plate for ranting the plate in engagement with the rod.

10. A device of the character described including a bracket body, an arm carried thereby and provided with a socket, a foot lever mounted to rock upom the bracket and having an arm confronting said socket, an actuating rod, a cable connected at one end portion with the rod and having its opposite end received in said socket, means engagcable with a throttle valve slidable upon the rod. and a flexible element in said cable connected at one end portion with said means and at its opposite end rtion with said lever.

11. A device oi ghe character described includin anactuating rod, a slide body shiftable tiereo'n and having a depending arm provided .with an upstanding stop plate,there being a bracing rib extending between the arm and plate, a pawl plate mounted to rock between the arm and sto 1 plate and having lugs straddling said rib, the pawl plate loosely receiving the rod therethrough and being movable to a position locking between the arm and stop plate, means connected to the pawl plate for shifting the slide body in one direction. and yieldable means acting against the pawl plate for shifting the slide body in the o )posite direction, the body be-.

ing movable independently of the plate for canting the plate in engagement with the rod. t

12. A device of the character described including an actuating rod, a flexible sleeve having adjustable connection with the rod whereby the etfective length of the sleeve may be varied. means shiftablc upon the rod and engageable with a tlnoltle valve, and means extending through said sleeve con nected to the first means and operable for shil'tim the lirst means.

lil. device of the character described including an actuating rod. a post lixed thereon. a llexible slccvc adjustable through said post whereby the cll'cctivc lcnglh of the sleeve may be varied, means shil'table upon the rod and cngagcablc with a throttlevalve, and means extending through said sleeve connected to the lirst means and operable for shifting the first means.

14. A device of the character described ineluding an actuating rod, means shiftable thereon and engageable with a throttle valve, means connected to the first means for shifting the first means, and means coacting with the second means and adjustable for varying the effective length thereof whereby to vary the throw of the first means.

15. A device of the character described including an actuating rod. means shiftable thereon and engageable with a throttle valve, :1 flexible element connected to said means for shifting said means, and means slidably receiving the flexible element therethrough and having adjustable connecti with the'rod whereby the effective lengtl .of said element may be varied for varying the throw of the first means.

16. A device of the character -describetl ineluding an-actuating rod, spring pressed foot operated means upon the rod engageable with a throttle valve. and nwansfor reliev ing the valve of the major portion of the spring tensionupou said means at the end of the throw of said means.

17. A device of the character described including an actuating rod. a slide body there-' on. a pawl plate mounted to rock ll)()l1 the body loosely receiving the rod theret irough, yieldablc means acting against the pawl plate normally shifting the body to the end of its throw. and means connected to said plate for limiting the body at the end of its throw and relieving the body of the major portion of the tension of said spring.

ln tcstimonv whereof I aflix my signature.

Josicrn H. M. MIOHoN. a 3. 

